Washington Dc Wedding Photography Itinerary

Wedding Photography in Chinatown

Chinatown is a perfect location for your wedding photographer to get those interesting city shots with you and your wedding party. Before you head into the neighborhood, take a trip underground into a Washington D.C. Metro station. The D.C. Metro has surprisingly beautiful architecture, with a striking rectangle geographic pattern splashed across all of its walls. The repeating pattern and domed ceiling make Metro stations a fantastic setting for visually dramatic photographs of you and your groom. While you probably could take the whole wedding party inside the station, bear in mind that the Metro is public transportation, so it may get crowded during rush hours.

Once you reach street level you will be surrounded in the buzz of Washington D.C.; wedding photographers will love the chance to take some grittier, journalistic shots as you and your party traverse the city streets and negotiate traffic. Stop and pose for a few shots at Chinatown’s Friendship Arch, an ornately crafted Chinese gate that signifies the start of Chinatown.

Walking about a block west of the Friendship Arch will lead you to the gorgeous brick-colored spire of Calvary Baptist Church. No matter your religious affiliations, the building’s dramatic architecture—think pointed-arch windows, carved doors, and ornamentation—will lend an old-world feel to your pictures. Washington D.C. wedding photography often relies on more well-known monuments and buildings, so using a lesser known location like Calvary Baptist Church is sure to make your pictures unique. Furthermore, your white or ivory dress will pop beautifully against the deep brick color, creating visually dynamic keepsakes.

Wedding Photography at Gravelly Point Park

Start your big day off with a healthy dose of thunder. Airplane-lovers will adore Gravelly Point Park, it’s one of the nation’s best parks for watching airplane take-offs and landings. Overlooking Washington D.C.’s Reagan Airport, your wedding photographer can create stunning photos of you and your party backed by blue skies and low-flying planes. It’s the perfect metaphor for the journey you and your spouse are set to embark upon. In addition to airplane shots, the park offers sweeping skyline views of Washington D.C.; wedding photographers can capture panoramic shots to include in your wedding day picture album.

The park is at the south end of the Mount Vernon Trail, and heading north up that trail will take you to the blossoming Lady Bird Johnson Park. In the spring, Lady Bird Johnson Park is brimming with tulips and daffodils that can add vibrant color and interest to add to your Washington D.C. wedding photography album. Inside the park, you can also visit the LBJ Memorial Grove, a stone monolith carved with quotes from the former president. Gather your wedding party around the monolith for some stark black and white photography, or pose in one of the innumerable green patches flanked by weeping willows or Virginia’s state tree, the dogwood. The park follows Washington D.C.’s famed Potomac River, so your wedding photographer can also craft beautiful pictures of the bride and groom along the waterfront, or the whole wedding party looking out onto the river.

Wedding Photography in Dupont Circle

Off of New Hampshire Avenue in the Dupont Circle neighborhood, Washington D.C. has hidden a Victorian gem. The Brewmaster’s Castle (aka the Christian Heurich House) is a stately, well-preserved manse that casts an excellent backdrop for stylish wedding photos. Strike a pose with your honey in front of the eye-catching stone turret or under the carved archways of the entrance. Your Washington D.C. wedding photography will look rich and chic, adding a new dimension to your wedding day memories. The castle also has a manicured Victorian garden on its backside, allowing your wedding photographer to take some elegant garden shots for your wedding book.

From there, you and your wedding party can head one or two blocks north to the circular park that gave Dupont Circle its name. A lush green preserve in the middle of an urban wonderland, Washington D.C. wedding photographers can create your very own photo shoot in this small park, snapping posed and candid shots of you and your devoted crew. At the center of the park stands a gorgeous Roman-inspired fountain that you can incorporate into your wedding photography as well. Have the bride and groom stand on the ledge and kiss while the bridal party looks on, or have the men on the ledge and the women down below.

You can take your final stop at the romantic Spanish Steps, which is NW at the junction of S and 22nd. This distance will probably be too much to manage walking (especially in heels!) so let your wedding chauffeur take the driver’s seat. The steps themselves mimic the grander scale steps in Rome, and provide a dreamy getaway from the city. The steps also look down onto some lovely urban views of 22nd street. Washington D.C. wedding photography is not complete without a dramatic shot of you and your groom descending the stairs hand-in-hand as your bridal party line the stairway and watch.